Etymologically
Log in

admirable

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈæd.məɹ.ə.bəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English admirable,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman admirable, also admirable;[4][3][5][6] the OED also takes it directly from Latin admīrābilis (“deserving of wonder, astonishing, worthy of admiration”),[4] itself from admīror (“to wonder at, admire”) and the suffix -bilis.[4][3][7] The Latin verb is formed from ad (“to, with regard to”) and mīror (“to wonder”).[8] In French the adjective is recorded about 1170 as amirable, in the sense "exciting wonder", and in 1549 as "worthy of admiration";[4] the Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the mid-13th century, already meant "worthy of admiration or praise".[9] The OED compares Spanish admirable and Italian ammirabile.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Exciting wonder, marvellous: about 1450, in a Middle English translation of Boccaccio's De Claris Mulieribus, which calls a woman transcendent And admyrable and luflyeste of face.[4][2] The MED reads the same passage as "worthy of admiration".[2] Barnhart dates the word about 1450,[7] Etymonline to the mid-15th century,[8] and Dictionary.com to 1590–1600.[10]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that in early use the word carried a stronger sense of "awe-inspiring, marvellous".[8] The sense "worthy of admiration or praise" is first recorded before 1586 in Sidney's Arcadia,[4] and it gradually displaced the sense of mere wonder, which is now rare or obsolete;[4][3] the Shorter Oxford notes that it survives in the phrase the Admirable Crichton.[5] Johnson (1755) still defined it as both "worthy of admiration" and "of power to excite wonder", always in a good sense.[11] In later use it became a general term of approval, "excellent, very good".[4][3] As an adverb, "very, extremely", it was used from 1593 in Merriam-Webster's dating, 1606 in the OED's, to 1817.[3][4] Nouns formed from it named wonders (1547–1826), a variety of peach (1693) and the red and white admiral butterflies (1742).[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1450 – exciting wonder, marvellous.[4][2]
  • 1547 – plural noun, wonders (obsolete by 1826).[4]
  • before 1586 – worthy of admiration or praise.[4]
  • 1593 – adverb, very, extremely (obsolete).[3]
  • 1693 – noun, a variety of peach.[4]
  • 1742 – noun, the red or white admiral butterfly.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Deserving admiration or high esteem; excellent: She showed admirable patience with the new recruits.[12][3][4]
  2. (obsolete) Causing wonder; marvellous or astonishing.[3][4][11]

Adverb

  1. (obsolete, 1606–1817) Very, extremely; admirably.[3][4]

Word family

  • admirableness
  • admirably
  • admirability
  • superadmirable
  • unadmirable

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins